


A Little Girl Lost in War

by Hyperactivefangirl29



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Caring James Barnes, F/M, Fem Steve Rogers - Freeform, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Sexist Language
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-05
Updated: 2015-01-21
Packaged: 2018-03-05 10:00:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3115913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hyperactivefangirl29/pseuds/Hyperactivefangirl29
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stephanie Rogers, small, sickly and the most persistent army applicant ever. The challenge of making the world accept Stephanie Rogers is taken on by a German Scientist, a British agent and an American inventor. And they're not the only ones surprised with the results.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The beggining of it all

Chapter 1- The beginning of it all

Stephanie Rogers hated being her, it wasn't the fact that, at the age of eighteen, she  _still_ looked like an eight year-old boy, or the fact that she was a girl. No, she hated being her because it meant she couldn't join the army, due to her numerous and extensive health problem. It meant she couldn't follow Bucky and so many other brave boys into the war. She remembered the day she found out Bucky was leaving, it had only been last week, though it felt like yesterday, no, yesterday was the day he left.

* * *

A week previous

Stephanie could feel the water running down her back, mentally cursing herself for not wearing her water-proof coat, (it was actually Bucky's but no one but she and him knew that). She was already ill, and this deluge was doing her no good. Her long hair hung in rattails, sticking to her thin face as she trudged through the puddles on her way home, tucking the fourth denied army enlistment form into the sodden books, her bag, containing pants, suspenders and her wig, hang at her side, static sticking it to her skirt.  

Stephanie paused for a moment, tucking a wet tendril of hair behind her ear and sneezing gently. Suddenly, the steady patter of raindrops on her head stopped. Stephanie looked up and smiled brightly and gratefully at Bucky, who was hold his thick jacket over their heads.

"I thought I told you to wait for me." He grinned down at her, worry sparking in his eyes. "Sorry Bucky. I forgot." Stephanie shrugged sheepishly, not telling Bucky she'd  been wallowing in the disappointment of failing again. "Do you have a sieve instead of a brain?" Bucky joked, his grin wider, Stephanie laughed and jabbed him in the ribs with her bony elbow before sneezing rather violently. The jokey expression dropped rapidly from Bucky's handsome face and he moved closer to the small girl, body heat passing through cold air and wet clothes. "Come on, lets get you home before that cold of yours gets any worse."

They made it back to Steph's tiny apartment a lot wetter and both shivering violently. The tiny girl dropped her books on the small table by the door before turning the heating on, although very slightly.  
  
"Right." Bucky said decisively, hanging his sodden jacket on a peg and kicking off his shoes at the same time. "Out of those wet clothes and into a hot bath." He ordered, chivying Steph into the bathroom. "Need my help?" Bucky grinned cheekily before Steph kicked the door close with suprising force. Bucky laughed before making for the small kitchen, mentally preparing himself for the task of making passible soup.  
  
Steph sippped the broth thoughtfully, occasionally dipping hunks of bread into the thick liquid. Bucky was in the bath at the moment, on her insistence of course. His jacket was drying over the radiator and for once, his soup was good. She grinned slightly, remembering his past attempts, the green gloop and gone to golden brown broth in a matter of months.  
  
"So it _is_ eatable." Bucky grinned, emerging from the bathroom, towling his hair dry. "Only just." Steph grinned back, pushing a steaming bowl towards her best friend. "At least it's not sludge." Bucky pointed out, taking up his spoon with a light chuckle. "Don't remind me." Steph shuddered, remembering the last time she got sick and Bucky had insisted he was the only one capable of looking after her. "I'll be apologising for that for a long time, won't I?"  
  
"I'll bing it up at your wedding." Steph promised with a smirk. "I'll hold you to that." Bucky laughed between spoonfuls of soup. "Good." Steph grinned before they fell into a comfortable silence.  
  
They both finished quickly, Steph's sneezes interrupting the silence. Bucky sifted uncomfortably, unsure how to break the news to his best friend. "Steph." He said nervously, she looked up from her table doodling. "Yeah?" She smiled brightly, blue eyes twinkling in the dining light.  
  
"The thing is." He paused, glancing at Steph, who looked adorably confused. "I don't know how to tell you. The thing is-"  
  
"Please, please tell me you haven't gotten some girl pregnant." Steph groaned, Bucky laughed uneasily. "No. I wouldn't ever, anyway. I've been accepted, into the Army, I get my orders next week."  
  
There was a long, dead pause. Tears threatened at the corners of Steph's eyes, Bucky was leaving. Probably going to die, as so many already had, her best friend, the man she loved was leaving. The only person she ha left to care was going.  
  
"I'll come back." Bucky blurted out, Steph's blue eyes met his brown. "I promise Steph. I promise I'll come back."  
  
She smiled, forcing the tears back for when he'd left. "You better, or I'll drag you back from Hell to kill you myself."  
  
Bucky laughed with her, though they both knew there was no way of knowing if he would come back.  
  
"When do you get your orders again?" Stephanie asked as Bucky slipped his, now dry, shoes on, the deluge of rain had stopped a few moments ago. "Next week, Tuesday, right after noon. It'll only take a couple of hours, meet you right after, k?"  
  
"You better Barnes." Steph warned. "Or I'll be on to you before Hitler gets a chance."  
  
"Noted Ma'am." Bucky saluted, poker faced and straight backed before he relaxed with a laugh. "I'll check all the alleys for you, you punk." Bucky grinned, pulling Steph into a hug. "You better, you jerk." Steph laughed before letting him leave her apartment. 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
  
A week later  
  
Steph raised the trashcan lid, shielding her already battered face from the heavy blow which sent her flying back into the wall. Scrambling to her feet again, Steph raised her fists defensively.  
  
"You don't know when to give up. Do you?" The bulky boy in front of her said, a smirk gracing his face as she got to her feet. "I could do this all day." She retorted with a glare, spitting blood from her mouth. The boy in front of her went to throw another punch, a fist caught it easily.  
  
"Hay. Pick on someone your own size." The army Sargent ordered, before dodging the next punch thrown. He landed a punch of his own, kicking the bully in the backside as he scurried from the alley.  
  
"Sometimes." Bucky turned to her with a smile. "I think you like getting punched."  
  
"I had him on the ropes." Steph complained, picking the army enlistment form from the ground and tucking it into her pocket before Bucky could see it. "Sure you did." Bucky grinned, before crouching down in front of her, inspecting the damage done.  
  
"We've gotta get you cleaned up." He said, wiping blood from her lip. "Why?" Steph frowned, fidgeting slightly under his mother-hen gaze. "Are we going somewhere?"  
  
"Yes we are." Bucky grinned, slinging an arm around her shoulders and leading her from the alley.

* * *

  
Steph stared in wonder at the carnival. Shrieks of delight and loud voices surrounded her, lights spinning and flashing. "Wow." She breathed, grinning at Bucky. "This my dear Stephanie. Is why it's good to be American. Hot dog?" He grinned back, holding out the steaming food. "Where the heck?" Steph laughed, excepting the hot dog. "The vender, duh." Bucky gestured to the glowing stall behind him before pulling Steph into the ever moving crowd.  
  
Bucky felt slightly guilty for making Steph ride the fastest ride in the carnival as she puked in a trash can. "I'm gonna kill you for this Buck." She promised, throat dry. "Sure. If you want." Bucky replied, holding a bottle of water out to her, she took it gratefully and took several large gulps. "Better?" He asked, eyeing her pale and slightly sweaty face, hoping she wasn't about to have an asthma attack. "Better." She nodded, screwing the lid back onto the bottle. "I should hit you over the head with this." She scowled lightly, holding the water up threateningly. "Come on." Bucky laughed, slinging his arm around her shoulders.. "I'll win you a bunny to cheer you up."  
  
Bucky didn't end up winning a bunny, it was a giant stuffed teddy instead, a bright blue bow around it's neck, Steph was thrilled either way and it earned Bucky a kiss on the cheek, which made him blush.  
  
Steph spotted the temporary recruitment office on their way out, she stared almost longingly at it. "Uh oh. Leaving me for a handsome soldier already?" Bucky grinned, Steph blushed and shook her head. "No. It's just." She sighed and tightened her grip on her bear. "Why can't I fight? I live here don't I? Don't I have the right to fight for my home? My freedom?"  
  
Bucky sighed. "Steph, we've had this conversation. Woman can't be soldiers, they don't have a place in war, in blood shed."  
  
"What am I meant to do? Be a nurse? Collect scrap in a little red wagon? Be a factory worker?"  
  
"Yes. Why not? This is war Steph, not the back streets of Brookline."  
  
"I know Bucky, and I still want to fight."  
  
"Please Steph, for my sake. Please don't do anything stupid when I'm gone."  
  
"How can I? You're taking all the stupid with you." Steph laughed, Bucky grinned in relief. "Punk." He retorted with a wide grin. "Jerk." Steph grinned back and they headed for home, unaware someone had been listening.  
  
Bucky kissed her outside her apartment, a proper kiss too that sent tingles right down her spine. "I love you Stephanie Rogers." He admitted when they parted. "I have for a long time. And if you'll have me, when I get back, I'll marry you."  
  
"Of course I'll have you." Steph smiled gently, before stretching up on tiptoes to kiss him again.  
  
"You left you jacket behind last week." Steph remembered when they broke apart again. "Keep it, you'll need it more then me I'll wager." Bucky smiled, moonlight dancing in his eyes. "And besides, don't want you forgetting me before I come back."  
  
"I'll never forget you." Steph promised before they kiss for the third and last time in almost a year.

* * *

It was mid-afternoon and Steph was just washing her lunch dishes when a knock came at the door. Wiping her wet hands on her apron, she opened the door. A model stood on the other side. Well, she wasn't a model, but she sure like one, glossy dark curls framed her face, perfectly applied red lipstick, bright brown eyes and an army uniform, which impressed Steph the most.

"Stephanie Rogers?" The woman asked, looking down at her. "Um, yes?" Steph said nervously, wondering what she was wanted for. "We have a job for you, if you'll accept."

"You're letting _me_ join the army?" The scrawny girl asked, eyes wide in surprise. "Asking actually." The woman nodded with a small smile. "Seriously? Gilmore didn't put you up to this did he?" Steph glared, looking around for the bulky bully. "No, he didn't. We're giving you a chance to do something good and brave for your country. That is what you want, is it not?"

"More than anything Ma'am." Steph nodded enthusiastically, still slightly wary that it was a joke. "Good, I'll return tomorrow morning to collect you, make sure you've packed up by 0700."

"Yes Ma'am." Steph nodded, a delighted grin on her face. "I shall inform the others then." The woman smiled again before turning sharply on her heel and walking briskly down the stairs.

Steph waited until the woman had disappeared down the alley before shutting her door. She then proceeded to squeal so loudly that the cheep glass in the windows rattled.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked this chapter, thank you for your kudos and please review. :-)


	3. Chapter 3

Steph had been at Camp Lehigh for over a month, being jeered at and bullied by the men, having sympathetic looks thrown her way by the high-ups. Peggy had stayed for a week before being shipped back to England so Steph was abandoned on an army base full of jeering and leering men, you could really tell she was having fun. She blocked it out though, focussing on her training, on how she could make herself stronger, on helping win the war and on what she wanted to fight for. She ignored the jeers when she struggled along the obstacle course, when she failed to keep her rifle out the mud and when Gilmore repeatedly tripped her up in the Mess. Steph ignored it all, by remembering there was a war going on and she had better things to do then retaliate. Peggy came back the week everything changed. 

* * *

The small mousy girl looked up in confusion, her coiled body stretching out as she propped herself up on her elbow. "Is this a test?" She asked, frowning slightly against the glare of the sun, she could feel the gritty dirt grinding at her elbow and there was a large stone digging into her hip. Dr Erskine smiled brightly at Steph before giving an _‘I told you so’_ look to Colonel Phillips who sighed and said something that made the Dr laugh. Peggy grinned at her, helping Steph up from the dusty ground.  “I think,” Dr Erskine said, still smiling. “We have found our first Super Soldier.” The men around Steph groaned, she could feel their glares on her back as Peggy and Erskine led her away.

She was debriefed and told to prepare, to relax and eat. She had a long talk with Peggy, about the different ways the serum might affect Steph’s body and how to deal with them. Dr Erskine came later, with a bottle of schnapps and he talked to her also, about why he’d chosen her to be the first and to stay true to herself when the procedure was over. This talk made her feel slightly less nervous about the following morning and Stephanie was finally able to sleep.

* * *

 

The next morning, Steph put the far-to-large t-shirt under her army shirt and pulled in the waist of the far-to-large pants with a thick belt, the legs had to be rolled up several times so her shoes could be seen but it didn't matter, the largeness of the clothes would be welcomed later, according the Peggy and Dr Erskine. It was Peggy who escorted her to the secret lab in Brooklyn. On the way Steph pointed out places where she’d been beat up and when the passed Steph’s apartment block, she told Peggy about Bucky and his promise to marry her once the war was done.

For the first time in her life, when Steph walked in the door, everyone stopped talking and turned to stare at her, even Peggy. Dr Erskine smiled at her from beside a large machine that remained Steph of the pictures she’d seen of butterfly cocoons, something told her that, that was where she was going to been soon. Peggy gave a soft sigh and led her down the cold metal steps, at the bottom she was met by Dr Erskine who shook her hand with a friendly, “Good morning.” there was a flash off to the side and Steph winced. “Please, not now.” The Dr said firmly to the photographer who nodded and hurried away.

“Are you ready?” Dr Erskine asked as Steph turned her attention to the machine, there was a pause before Steph nodded nervously. “Good. Take off your shirt, your tie and your shoes.” He said, gesturing to the various garments, Steph nodded as he walked away to check with the other scientists. Quickly ridding herself of the items of clothing and passing them to a nurse dressed in white, Steph stood in the middle of a secret lab in a pair of socks, too big pants, which now had their legs unrolled, and a white t-shirt with the cold metal of her dog-tags against her chest bones. 

Peggy gave her an encouraging smile, passing one of the nurses Bucky’s jacket as Steph clambered into the cocoon contraption. Dr Erskine came into her now limited line of view. “Comfortable?” He asked, a slight joking edge to his voice. “It’s a little big.” Steph replied in the same tone with a slight grin. The Dr laughed gently before Steph raised an important question. “You save me any of the schnapps?”

The Dr frowned a little as he admitted. “Not as much as I should have, sorry. Next time.” He promised before calling out in a louder voice. “Mr Stark, how are your levels?”

“Levels at 100%.” A handsome voice said as an equally handsome man came into view. “Good.” Erskine said, turned away to do his job. “We may dim half the lights in Brooklyn.” Stark admitted. “But we are ready. As we’ll ever be.” He added, almost as an afterthought before he too left her vision. Steph heard Erskine suggesting to Peggy that it would be more comfortable, and probably safer, in the glass viewing booth and with one final, quick smile to Steph, Peggy left for the booth.

The P.A system squealed when Dr Erskine flicked it, catching the attention of everyone. “Do you hear me?” His voice echoed slightly around the tiled walls. “Is this on?” Steph grinned slightly at these words. “Ladies and Gentlemen, today we take not another step towards annihilation, but the first step on the path to peace.” People started to move more urgently about the room, a whisper of chatter from the scientist and nurses as they went about their jobs rose around Steph. “We begin with a series of microinjections into the subject’s major muscle groups.” That sounded painful. “The serum infusion will cause immediate cellular change. And then, to stimulate growth, the subject will be saturated with Vita-Rays.”

 A cool wad of cotton wool was dabbed onto Steph's shoulder before there was a quick, sharp pain. Steph breathed out slowly as Dr Erskine came back into view. "That wasn't so bad." She admitted, still held down by the metal pads on her chest. "That was penicillin." The doctor said, his face and voice in complete dead-pan. Steph looked at  him in alarm and he gave her a guilty shrug, with one final look at her, he turned to the room saying. "Serum infusion beginning in five, four, three." Sharp pads of needles came down slowly on Steph's upper arms, she shot the doctor a dirty look. "Two." Steph braced herself for more pain. "One." 

Steph could feel the serum enter her blood stream. Damn, that hurt. Then the cocoon began to move, becoming vertical and closing the sides and top over Steph, so all she could see was the sliver of light coming through the glass panel far above her head. There was a light knock and Dr Erskine's slightly tinny voice called out. "Stephanie? Can you hear me?" 

"It probably too late to go to the bathroom, right?" Steph called back, she heard the doctor chuckle. There was a long moment before Mr Stark began counting up in ten percents. At seventy, Steph let out a cry of pain, she heard Dr Erskine call out to her and then Peggy yelling for the scientists to turn the machine off. The doctor began ordering people to start the process of shutting the thing down but Steph, through her haze of pain knew she had to do this, this had to work! "No!" She yelled out. "Don't! I can do this!" She promised, though she wasn't sure if she could. There was a pause before the machine began humming again and Mr Stark called out. "Eighty, ninety. That's one-hundred percent!" There was a serge of electrical power and the machine powered down. 

Steph blinked fiercely in the harsh, artificial light as the machine opened with a hiss. Stumbling into the waiting arms of Peggy and one of the nurses, Steph looked up as people crowed around her. They were all so, small. "Peggy." She said uncertainly, looking down at her friend. "Did everyone shrink?" 

There was a ripple of laughter and Peggy grinned, handing her Bucky's jacket. "No Steph, you got taller." 


End file.
